Find Us Online:

24 Hours in Custer State Park

These granite spires, known as “needles,” are one of the signature sights in South Dakota’s Custer State Park

With 71,000 acres to explore Custer is South Dakota’s largest state park. Despite its size an excellent network of roads permit visitors to see most of the park’s highlights in a single day, although several weeks would be needed to fully canvas all of its lakes, creeks, mountains, plains and hiking trails.

Whether staying a single night or several, Custer is one of the more welcoming parks we’ve visited; with no fewer than four lodges ranging in style from posh to dude ranch. Choosing from among their 13 campgrounds was no small feat either. We eventually decided to stay at the excellent Legion Lake facility, but suspect we’d have been happy with any of the options.

Our day began, just like in Teddy Roosevelet, with us discovering that invaders had infiltrated our campground. Or were we the interlopers? Probably the later. In either case, this lone bison bull was thoughtful enough to graze directly in front of a buffalo sign so that we might accurately identify him.

Getting just about anywhere in Custer is part of the fun. Nearly every road is a scenic one. Heading north to a planned morning hike took us along the 14 twisting miles of “Needle’s Highway” that whisks past it’s namesake granite pillars and spires.

In a couple of places single lane tunnels were blasted through sheer granite walls.

Taking time to enjoy the scenery from the many pullouts along the way, we park amongst dragon-tooth towers . . .

to catch a glimpse of the park’s famous “needle eye” rock formation. We’re always amazed at the creativity nature employs to produce such wonderfully improbable things.

Nature’s destructive side was also on display that morning as smoke from a nearby wildfire blanketed the Black Hills. Low visibility prompted us to abandon our planned hike to the top of Harney Peak, instead opting for a trail that lead us deeper into the valley.

Shannon “risks” being crushed by boulders at the entrance of the “Sunday Gulch” trail . . .

and soon decides the risk is definitely worth it. The first half of Sunday Gulch climbs down a rocky path of strewn boulders that sometimes flows with a babbling brook.

Trees and granite spires tower overhead as we make our way past more interesting rock formations. A stone Gollum, or perhaps a petrified Ent, guards the pass with Sphynx-like resolve.

We take lunch in the shade of “Little Devils Tower,” which really bears only passing resemblance to the real thing.

With the hike behind us we jump back in the car and head for “Wildlife Loop Road;” an 18 mile ring that circumscribes the park’s southern prairie. Being well acquainted with how uncooperative animals can be, regardless of whether they’re domesticated or wild, we’re a bit skeptical that the wildlife will simply show up simply because the road is named for them. But with one of the world’s largest publicly-owned bison herds in residence, chances of crossing paths with at least some of the 1,300 animals is pretty good.

True to it’s promise, we didn’t have to wait long before we getting caught in rush-hour traffic: Custer style.

Along the way we also met up with a mamma and baby burro.

Several well-maintained dirt roads off the paved “Wildlife Loop” crisscross the prairie and ponderosa pine offering additional opportunities for wildlife viewing. Somewhere deep in the park we encountered pronghorn antelope, prairie dogs and bison all peacefully sharing the wide open spaces.

Excellent! Very good to see a western park that hasn’t been photographed to death. The stone Gollum/petrified ent reminds me of New Hampshire’s Old Man of the Mountain — but that formation fell off the mountain a number of years ago.

Holy crow, this is an amazing post — the bison traffic jam, in particular. I live in the northeast and have never been west of Chicago, but every day it feels like a new reason to travel out west presents itself to me.

Hey Brian, I’m glad you mentioned that your lodging options were numerous and all of the campsites would have been great. Sometimes people don’t realize that part of our national heritage isn’t just the national (and state) parks themselves, but often there are wonderful historical lodge properties available at these places too, and not at unreasonable prices.

I’ve stayed in some amazing National Park lodges, and if one of your readers (b/c I know you use your RV) is considering one of the parks, they should check out what’s available.

I LOVED the Zion National Park lodge, and I stayed on Christmas Day last year. The weather was fantastic (in the 50’s!) and we nearly had the park to ourselves. I also really found the Jackson Lake Lodge in the Grand Tetons to be a wonderful place to stay… and there are many, many more.

Good point. I think it’s important for people to know that you don’t need to camp or to have an RV to do most of what we do. We’ve found that it is most rewarding to stay inside the parks, but as you note, plenty of places have lodges.

The buffalos on the road remind me of the time I was there and it was like rush hour with buffalos – ha! Custer is a breathtaking and beautiful place – loved the time I spent there a few years back. You truly feel like you have stepped into the song America the Beautiful.

I have not travelled to the Black Hills in SD, but have heard about them. Your photos give me a better picture of why to put this on our future travel schedule. Your photo of the bison traffic jam reminded me of our experience with domesticated versions in Ireland when farmers move cattle from one field to another on one lane roads. We are researching a trip to S. Africa for next year. Maybe we will be able to post a similar photo of elephants or water buffalo!
Oscar

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

[…] This week one of the fastest growing travel brands in Asia, Take Me to Travel, featured us and our 24 Hours in Custer State Park post. Overnight, they introduced us to 150,000 of their followers, halfway around the […]